Should iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH) Be on Your Investing Radar?

Designed to provide broad exposure to the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market, the iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 05/22/2000.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $93.27 billion, making it the largest ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Blend

Mid cap companies have market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion. They usually have higher growth prospects than large cap companies and are less volatile than small cap companies. These types of companies, then, have a good balance of stability and growth potential.

Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.

Costs

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.05%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.36%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector--about 22.40% of the portfolio. Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Interactive Brokers Group Inc Clas (IBKR) accounts for about 0.68% of total assets, followed by Rb Global Inc (RBA) and Watsco Inc (WSO).

The top 10 holdings account for about 2% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

IJH seeks to match the performance of the S&P MidCap 400 Index before fees and expenses. The S&P MidCap 400 Index measures the performance of the mid-capitalization sector of the U.S. equity market.

The ETF has lost about -1.50% so far this year and was up about 3.78% in the last one year (as of 05/14/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $51.16 and $67.87.

The ETF has a beta of 1.06 and standard deviation of 20.54% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 411 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, IJH is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Blend area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The iShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF (IWR) and the Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (VO) track a similar index. While iShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF has $41.16 billion in assets, Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF has $79.41 billion. IWR has an expense ratio of 0.19% and VO charges 0.04%.

Bottom-Line

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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